Page 77 of City of Wind and Lies

Taking the seat across from me, she leans in and lowers her voice. "Is it because of the baby?"

I snort a laugh. "Pretty sure it's just getting back into the swing of things and catching up from those two weeks of classes is taking its toll."

She nods, sipping on her own latte as she starts to tell me about her plans with Perry this weekend. It isn't five minutes after Cami slips back to her desk that Bowie saunters into my office, closing the door behind him.

Before I can get a single word out, he's twisted my chair around, hands caging me in as he slams his lips onto mine. His kiss is filled with hunger and need- as if he didn't just fuck me in the bathroom of the restaurant at lunch.

I’m breathless when he breaks the kiss, resting his forehead on mine. "How's my girl?"

I will literally never get tired of hearing him call me that.

"Tired and hungry. Can we order in tonight?"

His lips brush my forehead as he straightens. "Anything for you, Passerotta." He pulls his wallet from his pants pocket, offering me a black credit card. "Dallas is going to drive you home. Order whatever you'd like and you can pick it up on the way."

My brows furrow together as I take the card. "Why aren't you coming with me?"

"There's something I need to go take care of at the hangar."

"Something, or someone?"

"Wren, I..." he starts.

"Bowie," I admonish, pushing to my feet and placing my hands on my hips. "I need you to be honest with me."

Carding a hand through his hair, he murmurs, "The more you know, the more danger I put you in."

I bring my palm to rest on the satin fabric pulled tightly across the hard planes of his chest. "But I chose this, Bowie. I'm choosing you and everything that comes with that."

His hazel eyes study me, but my expression leaves no room for doubt, and after a beat, he heaves a sigh. "We’ve got Allen."

I swallow thickly, the memory of the attack blending with knowledge of Bowie’s businesses and I can’t help but ask. "Are you going to kill him?"

"Eventually," he grumbles.

A man willing to take someone’s life for me? And they say chivalry is dead.

I should be put off by that thought. There should be some level of human decency inside of me that’s triggered and tries to talk him out of it; convince him there's another way. But instead, excitement ignites in my belly, making my pussy clench at the lengths Bowie is willing to go to for me.

"Okay," I breathe, circling my arms around his neck and rocking up on my tiptoes to steal a kiss.

"Just like that. You're okay with it?" he asks dubiously.

"I am, because I trust you."

He grips my hips, pulling me flush against his hard bulge as he nips at my bottom lip and murmurs, "Fuck, I love you."

My muscles go rigid, and I swear for a split second, my heart stops beating before surging back to life and threatening to explode from my chest.

Did he really just say that?

Bowie's jaw goes slack, like his own words caught him as off guard as they caught me. His tongue darts out to wet his lips and he clears his throat. "Wren-"

"I love you, too," I whisper.

There’s a look of pure adoration gleaming in his hazel eyes as he stares down at me. I can feel hot tears pricking at the backs of my eyes, because this is all I've ever wanted. To not only be told I was loved, but be made to feel like I'm the center of someone’s universe. Isn’t that what everyone wants? What everyone deserves?

We stay like that, unmoving, fully absorbed in each other’s orbit until the feeling of vibrations between our thighs snaps us out of our love drunk stupor.

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